Protest or Not Nigerians Must Not Lose Hope
By Ussiju Medaner
Anyone following public events and affairs, especially in recent times, may have noticed that we are in a somewhat critical and dangerous season for us as a people and a nation. Undeniably, several critical aspects of our nation and systems are going haywire; albeit by our design out of multivariate expressions of chiefly selfishness, biases and unbridled hatreds. However, this is not new to us over the decades. Our sufferings and undoings as a nation are traceable to the same familiar causes; and unrepentant as we are, it is either we are not aware that by our inordinate actions, inactions and disproportionate reactions, as the case may be, we are pulling the building on ourselves along with everyone, or we do not care if the nation crumbles if we cannot have our ways.
Nations across the globe are facing challenges, some even more than ours, including the very reverend developed nations we eagerly compare ourselves with. But there is something they are not doing, or rather that they are doing. They are patriotic elements and citizens. They cover the nakedness of their commonwealth and work from within to correct the disturbances, distortions and anomalies influencing their progress. The USA, UK and name them, have bigger and larger economic crises, corruption and insecurity than we think we have. Gruesome saboteurs are working to pull them down; there are destructive and embarrassingly distractive events occurring by the day in these nations; yet, their media, as voracious as they are, know where the limit of ridiculing their nation lies, and no matter what will always hold above everything and all consideration, the love for their country, the respect for its name and the spirit of patriotism in high esteem.
Here, in Nigeria, the play is different. Patriotism is a language alien to us. Regardless of professed rhetoric, we are more or less a non-citizens nation; a country largely populated by people who do not believe in the nation’s potential, opportunities, welfare and wellness. A nation populated by individuals who have partitioned themselves along religious, tribal, economic and political groups and distinctions and who primarily accord absolute reference to those groups and distinctions at the detriment of the nation. Hence, by the prevailing predominant logic, the nation can burn, but our interest would remain in the achievement of our “group” projects and aspirations.
This country is currently down on its knees, not because the government is not working or otherwise. The government is indeed making frantic efforts even though the attempted, promising policies being implemented come with immediate hardship which is expected to recede, hopefully shortly, if not earlier. But when we investigate the major problems responsible for our current predicaments, we would trace them back to us, the acclaimed citizens.
Now we are about to face yet another monumental challenge coming from the organisers of the projected planned protests everywhere in the media. I am not against protest. No one should rightfully be against peaceful protests if there are need for them. Of course, in the past, we have had such, and we have achieved a couple of policy modifications via public protests. But we must ask ourselves: is this planned protest needed? Why do we want to hit the street? Is it for personal reasons or genuinely to force positive changes in the country?
It is quite unfortunate that we have with us a dangerous group, subtle, but nearly the most dangerous for the country’s progress at this critical time. This group consists of individuals who have aligned behind a potent combination of political, regional and religious affiliations, to torment the system until they achieve their group objectives. I have seen the extent Nigerians are willing to go; I remember vividly, how Benue state and some parts of the Southeast were set on fire in the build-up to the 2019 general elections, to both discredit the then Buhari administration and build sentimental support for the PDP candidates across the states and nationwide. Of course, the problem almost ended with the elections.
The organisers of the proposed protests as much as the hidden financial and sponsors behind it, are banking on cajoling the general public to the already unpopular outing, by eferencing the president’s involvement in organised protests in the past. We however need to set the record straight. Bola Ahmed Tinubu then, arguably he is one of the most revered politicians, was an arrowhead of acceptable and reasonable protests. Recall, he did not call for a revolution nor change of government via protest, nor made subtle or overt attempts to instigate the citizens to set out to set the country on fire, nor did he become an uncontrollable mob wreaking havoc on innocent citizens and their means of livelihood. Had he been, he probably would never have won and commanded much public respectability across the nation. He was part of the globally supported protests that were aimed at forcing the then military administration to respect the democratic aspiration of Nigerians, after the unceremoniously annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election. Furthermore, he was an arrowhead of the protests that forced the cabals that were scheming to overshadow former president Goodluck Jonathan, after the death of his principal, late President Yar’adua. They led a tactical legislative activism that eventually led to the enthronement of Goodluck Jonathan as an Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Again, he was an arrowhead of the protest against the removal of fuel subsidies during the administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan, at a time when the country was rich enough to balance the costs and influence of the subsidy on national infrastructure and economic growth and development, but also, at a time when gross public corruption and the government failure to tackle it was the challenge and not subsidy. You may recall that the Excess Crude Account became a point of serious contention and struggles between the states and the federal government.
In all the aforementioned incidents of protests, the basic characteristics were that they were coordinated, peaceful within a limited area the security authorities were fully informed and the protests were in no way totally non-destructive. And in all the cases, the objectives were mostly achieved because the motives were genuine and never with the intent of outright sabotage. We cannot say the same about the projected and planned protest. The organisers are already urging their supporters to mark individuals and those to attack. They are already suggesting a revolution and grooming the level of hatred that is capable of achieving their objectives.
It is quite unfortunate that even some respected leaders would be so careless and unbridled in their direct speeches and utterances to lend their weight to the forces behind the protest. I listened to former President Jonathan, analysing the Nigerian youths concerning what they are capable of doing, the damage they can imagine and perpetrate, and the reasons for them not to be swayed by the security authority. He literally told them, they could overpower the nation’s established security even as they descend on the presidential villa to destroy it. He gave a false example of Burkina Faso; unfortunately, the only thing that happened in that country was the citizens rising to reject an attempt at a third term in office by their leader, president Camporee.
Even in Kenya which is now the chief rallying point for organising to destroy the country Nigeria; do they ask themselves, the pertinent questions? Was the protest a success? Who were the major victims of the week-long outing? The president is still in office; in fact, he would only be removed at the poll, if they so chose to vote him out. He is still there, if there is any damage to government infrastructure, it would be refurbished and even more beautiful at the expense of other national development. But what of the people? There are videos now in circulation of shops and businesses that are vandalised and looted. The Kenyan protests have ended, but they are crying now. All the organisers could tell them is that those are the prices of the change they need. But what changed? Change hardly comes via organised violence. They ended up destroying their country and economy. They destroyed the people’s livelihood and everything has more or less returned to the status quo. Only the organisers, like those behind ENDSARS, are going to continue to benefit. We will soon hear about asylum applications and they will soon ‘Japa.’
There is only one way to enforce change legitimately. Kenyan President would remain president with his mandate until the end of his crossroads saw what happened in South Africa. The forever-popular ANC was almost booted out at the poll. We saw it in the UK last month. Just about 10 years ago, Nigerians voted out Jonathan, an incumbent. To enforce our power, we should engage the government’s advocacy, and not plan terror upon the country.
Where is the place of constructive negotiation? We just saw the government and the organised labour showing maturity and like in the past, settled their differences on the table. Today, there is an accepted, bargained new minimum wage, with an agreement of a review every three years. That is great and the right way it should be.
We should engage our representatives at the national assembly. Recall them if they are not responsive to the demand of the majority of the population of your constituent. We have these legitimate tools and options to ventilate our grievances and force them to do the right things. If I want a constitutional change to the Electoral Act or the Constitution, that is where to go. We can set them up to impeach local government chairmen, state governors and even the president. Unfortunately, our only problem, apparently, is the president; We are busy romancing each other and not interested in querying their performances because they are of our tribes, religions, political affiliations and name it. Aren’t we hypocrites?
We must know that the right to protest has limits. Attempts to shut down the government, block roads and stop free movement, to the extent that we had to record unnecessary deaths as a result of people not being able to get to the hospital during ENDSARS, and forcing people to be part of the protest is treason. You cannot force any citizen who is not interested to join your protest. Section 41(1) of the 1999 Constitution is clear and until that Section is amended, protesters must be aware of their limits of blocking roads.
I vividly remember the gory ENDSARS protest. Till today, we still have protagonists of the destructive outing struggling to claim it was not a well-planned, orchestrated plan, geared towards influencing the 2023 elections. But, except for those who are emotionally biased and drift towards accepting that people can die without having corpses, and by some coincidences, are without families, all sane Nigerians know the protest was targeted at winning the election, particularly the presidential one. That protest ended with the mammoth destruction of public and private properties only in Lagos state, when the country has 36 states and a seat of government in Abuja. Beyond the destruction, the protest was a failure because it was not the people protesting but politicians organising people to pave the way for their political ambitions.
Now, they are grouping again. They want to burn the country just like it happened in Kenya. And yet, the tone is very clear from the beginning; this is not just about the hardships in the country, otherwise, we would be compelled to wait a bit longer to see the eventual outcomes of the government policies, but rather, it is about a group that believes they were robbed of victory in the 2023 elections and have not hidden their disdain for the current Administration from day one.
The group believes they can become what they want by sacrificing ignorant youths on the streets. They keep citing Kenya and want to replicate the wanton destruction that Kenya has just witnessed. How did it end in Kenya, or have we seen the end of what is happening in the country, the unbecoming looting of businesses that left the common citizens economically empty and uncatered after the protest? Have we forgotten Libya? They thought a deadly protest, a revolution, was what they needed. Yes, they succeeded in killing their foremost leader, but where is Libya now? Aren’t they wishing today that they had done things differently? In Sudan, it was an increase in the price of bread that started the protest, and today, where are they? All the cry for cessation, where does it land on both sides of Sudan? Regrets.
Another way of looking at these unsuccessful protests considering the high avoidable costs, both human and material that they brought about is to consider another interesting set of beneficiaries that I have chosen to call ‘conflict entrepreneurs.’ They are quick to instigate protests or any other disruptive, if not violent actions that could further tarnish the image of the country and cause real pain to the people. These conflict entrepreneurs often present the ideas of activism in harmless forms with the pretext that they are fighting for the masses, even though they have no antecedents of success in what they claim. In the quest to bring about positive changes, some of us have narrowly escaped the antics of these conflict entrepreneurs who we thought had genuine concerns and were patriotic enough to galvanise for real, meaningful political change. Some of them are even from the ruling party with respected critical mass followers. As politics can be full of surprises and one has to be watchful and cautious, it became clear that these elements, these conflict entrepreneurs have no regard for reason and having seemingly succeeded in convincing a critical mass of supporters, they don’t want to back down. Not only have we dissociated from these malignant tendencies but our collective responsibility to stop them by all legitimate means, including reason. Pointing them to a clear violation of Section 41(1) of the Constitution is one of the first defences against both desperate politicians and conflict entrepreneurs.
Eventually, we would realise that protest is not the way. If we want a different government, we should organise ourselves to vote them in at the appropriate time. What we are witnessing currently is more of the continuation of the hangover of the 2023 presidential election. Losers that are not willing to accept defeat and move on, but are working to destabilise the entire national system. Trump did the same thing in the US; he lost an election, lost the legal tussles and yet refused to accept defeat. The outcome was the January 6th attack on the Capitol to stop the affirmation of the Biden presidency. They did the damage, but where are they today? Mostly behind bars. And where is Trump, following the only allowed path to the presidency: the poll? Sensibly, if you lose an election, if your preferred candidates lose at the polls, do not be a sore loser, accept the reality, and reorganise to return to the poll. That is the only right way.
Furthermore, the planned protest will not bring about any meaningful changes. What they are planning is a protest that will further break and destroy the country. We cannot fold our hands and allow this to happen. Nigerians, patriotic citizens, must rise and stand on the side of the country to stop the elements who are bent on destroying us if it is a bearable cost for them to become relevant. I have seen their demands, which include salary increases and yet, after the announcement of the new minimum wage, the protest still goes on. They also asked for the release of ENDSARS protesters and payments of compensation to massacred youths. Shouldn’t they present a list of the victims, with their relatives and the evidence to show that they were killed during the ENDSARS protests? They also stated the Uwais report, the same report the president is already working on to implement certain aspects that bring benefits to the country. In reality, I have gone through their demands, and they are nothing but an excuse to strike at the heart of Nigeria, to cause widespread public disturbance for some premeditated ends.
I am going to have this advice for the protesters and the organisers; and for free which will perhaps, give them better relevance and a glorious recognition. Decide very well who your targets are. You have failed before you even started because you see Mr President as your target and Lagos state your destination for destruction. But you have chosen to be blind to the fact that your states have received bogus palliatives from the Federal government at the onset of subsidy removal. 34 states and FCT just received a total sum of N438,368,915,030.24. This is not monthly allocations, it is a payment to ameliorate the sufferings in the respective states. The Federal government just recently released ten truck loads of rice to each of the 36 states and FCT. So, when you come out, your target should not be Lagos or Abuja. You are to occupy your state government houses. There are as many problems in the Southeast as they are in the Southwest and the entire Northern regions. Be educated.
Yes, there is hardship in the country, and understandably, we need to keep our leaders on their toes to keep up with their promises. But, a protest, a revolution, why? We just saw the decades-long agitation for local government autonomy become a reality after all the civil and peaceful engagements. Even though it is not enough yet, the minimum wage has just been raised. The president is looking critically at the Uwais document, and the promised students’ loan program has been activated. The CNG program is in high gear and we are seeing its gradual outputs. Despite everything, the government deserves some respite, understanding and benefit of doubt, to see through its bucket of programs.
We weper centhere during the electioneering campaign, when all the major presidential candidates told us clearly that they would put an end to petrol fuel subsidy if elected, among several other campaign promises. We did not complain then, but now that the president made good his promise, we are now crying wolf. Come to think of it, if president Bola Ahmed Tinubu has maintained the status quo and kept the subsidy in place, wouldn’t we be praising him now, even as his boys at the villa and elsewhere get richer from the organised manipulation that the oil subsidy represents. We may be in pain, but can we truly say the president’s decision to remove the subsidy wasn’t in the country’s interest?
Now, let’s talk about the protest, from all indications, they have informed us it is organised, and that it is a revolution. And we know that revolution does not have an end date. So, have they made arrangements for the protesters? Their foods, water and medication, to sustain the outing? If that is done, who is or are the financiers? Who are the people funding it? Perhaps, the same politicians behind the ENDSARS protests, or another? Why is it that 98 percent of the vocal voices propagating the protest are all from a single region of the country and mostly supporters of a single presidential candidate who lost in the 2023 election? The language is coated everywhere with politics and politician handiwork.
Like I stated earlier, we are at a crossroad as a nation. We have taken decisions that are temporarily hurting us on so many fronts, yet, we cannot shy away from the fact that these policies are deemed necessary for our economy to sit on a solid foundation. We have also seen the government direct and indirect responses to ameliorate the suffering – though they may not be enough. Currently, there are no valid justifications for a national protest. We are also well aware that the president is strategising to weed out non-performing appointees and elements within his government who aren’t working in consonant with his developmental plans for the country. The truth remains that he needs our understanding, support and cooperation to collectively see the nation through this difficult time.
The group behind the plan protest should withdraw before it is too late. Nigerians will resist them and the imminent shame on them would be too much.
GOD BLESS THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA!
